Having a pet dinosaur might pretty much be nearly every little boy’s wet dream. Who would not want to be the king of the playgrounds when riding their enormous T-Rex, who happens to munch on those who oppose you? Sadly, today you’ll have to do with a LEGO version of the aforementioned, but you can still chew on other people, so it’s a dream that might have partially come true. Prepare yourself for the many dangers that lurk in Jurassic Park (World). The park is open once again, but trouble does not seem that far away.

Story

LEGO Jurassic World follows the stories of all of the films that are tied to the Jurassic Park franchise. You can play through the storylines of the four movies, where you will be treated to the start of the prehistoric disaster.

At the beginning you’ll be able to access Jurassic Park (the first) or Jurassic World. It’s advised to start at the beginning and get your hands dirty with the first ‘movie’. You’ll be seeing Jurassic Park for the first time, before the actual intended visitors have a chance. As the park is only manned by personnel, to get things ready for the masses, it soon becomes clear that not everything is as it should be. Dinosaurs are breaking loose and sabotage is not that far away either. This leads to the downfall of the original ‘theme park’.

The second movie, The Lost World, gets unlocked after you complete the storyline of the first one. As we want to keep things fairly spoiler free for those who haven’t watched the original movies yet, we’ll just keep it simple by saying, it will situate itself on another island, that also happens to have dinosaurs thanks to the creators of the first Jurassic Park.

You’ll be able to finish up the original trilogy by visiting the second island once again, in order to lead a rescue mission. As the island is still infested with creatures from the past, things will remain enormously dangerous.

Of course, the plot of the new movie is also incorporated in this LEGO vision of Jurassic World. The park is open once again, but sometimes it seems people do not learn from their errors of the past.

Even though it is amazing to have the plots of the four movies in one single game, it also means that everything is handled in a fairly short fashion. Whilst those who haven’t seen the movies will still be in for a treat, it will please Jurassic Park fans a lot more. There are many gaps in the story, that can only be filled by those who have watched the entire saga.

Graphics

Having tested the Xbox One version of the game, it was clear from the start that the full potential of the console was not being used, but LEGO Jurassic World wields that already typical looking LEGO style. The overall animations are decent, environments are filled with objects and there’s enough detail to make you want to explore the vicinity. As usual, this title makes use of lifelike objects in combination with LEGO items, characters and vehicles and it still works perfectly.

As the game runs through the world of Jurassic Park 1, 2, 3 and Jurassic World, the developers did a great job to make everything look as one big whole. Everything remains kid-friendly, but the overall looks are quite appealing for a more adult audience too. The dinosaurs have receive the LEGO treatment as well, and truth be told, their digital LEGO forms look quite amazing.

Sadly, the only thing that the LEGO games often neglect are the menus. These often look like a trip down memory lane, as they seem awfully dated. Nonetheless, this is only a small dent in the overall playful world of LEGO Jurassic World.

Sound

Sound wise the game brings up some mixed feelings, as it’s great that the game uses many of the original voices from the movies, but the quality is not always on par with today’s standards. This is especially true for the voices from the older titles. These voices often sound as if they have some of the original background static on them or that the characters find themselves under water or in a tunnel.

Other than the voices, the music is authentic and makes the game that much more adventurous. You’ll be treated to the original movies’ soundtrack, which still falls in line with the otherwise comical graphical style. Nonetheless, when the original theme song of Jurassic Park starts playing for the 20th time, you might just turn down the volume quite a bit. That being said, the original voices and soundtrack combined with the LEGO universe work quite swimmingly.

Gameplay

LEGO Jurassic World follows the typical LEGO videogame formula, which positions the game in the adventure genre. You’ll have to fight your way through many enemies, find solutions for different types of puzzles and explore to reach the end of each separate mission.

The world of LEGO Jurassic World is divided into two portions, namely the mission zones and the overworld (park) in which you can run around freely (to a certain extent). Both zones will force you to do certain puzzles in order to progress, collect LEGO studs and unlock new characters, dinosaurs, zones and vehicles.

During your missions you will simply have to go from point A to point B, and solve many puzzles along the way. Most of the puzzles require you to destroy certain objects in order to create new items, which will open locked areas, allow you to cross gaps or climb obstacles. Not only the items you build will be important, but the different members of your team will have their own set of skills as well. During missions your team will often consist out of two to four members, instead of the many characters you’ll be able to choose from in the overworld. These limited members will have to escort you through the mission area, by switching active characters when the time calls for it. Some characters can construct dinosaur remains, others will be able to shoot targets, some will be able to track certain items, and so on. On the other hand you’ll be able to control dinosaurs as well, to gain strength and get rid of some of the obstacles in your way.

One thing that this title suffers less from than any of the other LEGO titles that are based on famous franchises, is retracing your steps. Whilst the overworld holds many secrets, until you unlock the right character for certain puzzles, the missions use these tactics a lot less. You’ll be able to do most of the many missions the game has to offer, and still find nearly all of the collectible items.

Collecting is still a big part of this LEGO game, and by that we mean that it’s not only about unlocking characters and dinosaurs along the way. As the LEGO games have a huge amount of destructible items scattered across the hub and missions, you’ll be able to destroy these items in order to collect the LEGO studs. These will provide you with better scores for your missions and will contribute to your total in the overworld.

If you’re stuck in the park and you don’t know where your next mission is, the game will guide you with a trail of transparent blue LEGO studs, towards your goal. As the park is actually quite big, this proves to be a great help, as you will get lost quite easily.

Some bugs were still present in the park though. Sometimes when another player joins, he will receive a character on the other end of the map. Whilst you could simply switch to a character that is closer to the other player, it often does not respond. At other times, when playing alone, your other characters will not follow you, or pretty much ‘spawn in the woodwork’ when you need them. Tiny annoying bugs, that can hamper your play sessions.

Conclusion

LEGO Jurassic World proves to be a welcome addition to the LEGO game world. Whilst the gameplay proves to be nearly the same as many of the other LEGO, you’ll be able to control dinosaurs. If that’s not a key feature of the game, we don’t know what else we could say to convince you, except for the humoristic interpretation of the entire Jurassic Park (World) franchise in combination with the original voices and soundtrack. Get ready to roar, you’re in for a big bang.